Works Ministry Orders Inspection of All Sino Trucks, Other Heavy Dump Trucks

Commissioner Winstone Katushabe chairing a meeting with owners, operators, dealers and drivers of the vehicles.

The Ministry of Works and Transport has ordered the mandatory inspection of all Sinotrucks and other heavy dump trucks within two months, following a meeting with owners, operators, dealers and drivers of the vehicles.

The ministry said that all heavy dump trucks in the affected categories must undergo inspection “within 2 months from a date to be announced soon.”

“Drivers operating the trucks will be accredited and issued identification badges for accountability,” the Ministry said.

Operators have been put on notice against overloading beyond permitted axle limits.

The ministry also directed an end to a long-standing challenge associated with dump trucks on Uganda’s roads, ordering “no more sand/material dripping onto our roads.”

“Roadworthiness and proper maintenance are mandatory” going forward.

The meeting, chaired by Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety Winstone Katushabe comes just over a week after one of the deadliest crashes recorded on Ugandan roads this year, in which a sand-laden Sinotruck collided head-on with a passenger taxi at Lwera Swamp along the Kampala-Masaka Highway.

The incident which occurred on the night of August 3, killed 14 people instantly and critically injured four others.

That crash placed Sinotrucks, widely used in Uganda’s construction and sand-haulage sectors, at the centre of a national conversation about the safety of heavy commercial vehicles, with the ministry confirming it will inspect all such trucks operating in Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono and parts of Mpigi and Kayunga districts over the coming two months, citing concerns that the vehicles have become “accident-prone.”